Scripture References;

36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew22:36-40 KJV

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1Corinthians 13:4-13 NIV

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1John 4:8 NIV

1Corinthians 13 is a favorite scripture passage of many. In that passage you will find the most accurate description of true love that has ever been penned. Over the years I have come to use this passage to measure the quality of my love for both God and people, but only to find that my love always fell short of the standard I found in the two greatest commandments. Here they are below:

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36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him,Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.38This is the first and great commandment 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:36-40 KJV

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I always found it discouraging that whenever I considered the description of love in the Corinthians passage, even on my best day, my love fell so short of the love the Lord commanded us to have, and to express. I might sometimes exhibit those traits, but not to the extent that I could boast that I was “characterized” by them. Then one day while I was pondering this dilemma I suddenly remembered this verse: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:8. I knew that I both had love and expressed love in some measure, but such a small measure. I didn’t have “perfect” love. I didn’t express “perfect” love. My love was and /is “imperfect”.

In that moment I was learning to grasp just how frail I was and still am. But then the second part of that verse spoke to me: “God is Love”…”God is love”. Then I pondered “God is Love, so maybe I could substitute ‘God’ for the words ‘Love’ or ‘Charity’ in the Corinthians passage.”…so the NIV version of 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 would go like this:

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“God is patient, God is kind. He is not proud. He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. He does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and God. But the greatest of these is God.

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Several years have passed since the Lord gave me this glimpse of “true” love…this glimpse of Him, but its impact still remains with me and serves as a guide whenever I open my Bible to study…whenever I open my mouth to pray.

Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just click here:www.biblegateway.com They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!

Scripture Reference;

2 Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:2-5

It has been a long time since I last wrote here about my family. It’s time for an update. I have seen many wonderful things happen this year, and some things that have been hard. I have a prayer request. My Husband’s glaucoma is getting worse. It is hard enough that he has been living with a dull ache in his eye ever since this past spring but there has been a new warning sign. He has woke up the past couple mornings with fluid on his cheek. That is bad. He is scared and depressed and trying his very hardest to take it all in stride. He confided in me that he knew kids at the blind school when he was growing up that were in so much pain and the pressure in their eyes was so high that they had to have them removed. That is what happened with his other eye (the one that never had any vision in it). He had it removed either in 1997 or 1998. It is one thing to suddenly and to unexpectedly go blind, but to ride in a car to a hospital and look all around outside, knowing you are going to come back out of the same building into complete darkness for the rest of your life…it makes me cry whenever I think about it.

Please pray for a miraculous healing, and also for the grace required to cope should a miracle not be part of the Lord’s plan. Thank you so much.

Do you have a Bible? If you don’t have one, you need not worry. Just click here:www.biblegateway.com They have many versions and translations of the Bible that you can read. Some of the best things in life are free!